1. Why do we add hydrolised chicken protein and what is it?

The hydrolised chicken protein is only present in small amounts sprayed at the surface of the product to improve palatability. As these proteins are completely hydrolised (which means that they are cut in very small parts by an enzymatic reaction), they lose their properties as allergen (which means that the body immune system cannot longer recognize these proteins as chicken proteins so that even dogs allergic to chicken will not have allergic reactions to this proteins. Because of this we can add hydrolised chicken protein also to food like Lamm&Ris and Lax&Ris- that are suitable for allergic dogs.

2. Do we add something to cat food to prevent bad smell of stool?

To cat food we add yucca extract (this is natural extract, has no negative effects. It does the following: Yucca saponins have ammonia-binding activity. When added to the diet, yucca saponins pass through the digestive tract unabsorbed and are excreted in the feces. In the excreta, the yucca components bind to ammonia and certain other odiferous compounds and prevent them from being released into the air. Cats have their cat litter box indoor and thus smell of stool can be an issue. Two solutions: yucca in the food prevents smell and Husse cat litter will do the rest.

3. Do we add something to dog food to prevent bad smell of stool?

In dog food the eventual smell of stool should not be an issue as dogs go outside to popp. An eventual problem in dogs could be flatulence. The dog's feeding habits may effectively cause flatulence. For example, this may occur when the animal wolfs down its food, getting too much air in the process or when the chunks are insufficiently masticated, thereby ending up in the stomach unreduced. Preventive steps include: serving larger-sized chunks forcing the dog to chew its food to better effect; offering several meals a day to counteract scoffing and to put less of a strain on the stomach; making sure the dog is able to eat its food peacefully, i.e. avoid having other dogs or cats around to rule out the element of competition; allowing the dog to rest after the meal as stress and agitation only serve to slow down the emptying of the stomach; serving super premium food as this allows your dog to eat less of rations which are more digestible. In addition, fresh meat and inferior quality meat are also often at the root of flatulence which, at worst, may even prompt diarrhea. If none of the above advice is able to address your dog's flatulence problem, we would suggest you go and see your vet to have your animal examined for any intestinal disorders.

4. What kind of fat do we use in our dry food?

We use lard as fat source in our dog and cat food. Animal fats are a good energy source and increase the palatability of the product. We use high quality of the fat: fresh fat, not rancid and efficiently protected against oxidation with antioxidants. Important is also that some fat sources are added which contain omega-3 fatty acids: for this purpose, we add salmon oil to some of the Husse products (super premium range).

5. Why does husse dry food contain salt?

Salt is needed as source of sodium and chloride, two essential nutrients necessary for the water househouding in the body. These electrolytes regulate if the osmolarity in the body tissues. Dogs can receive too much salt, but this is very unlikely with industrial petfood. Also the combination of meat and dry food does not cause problems concerning salt. The Husse products contain optimum salt concentrations that insure sufficient intake of sodium and chloride, and also give optimal taste and water intake: salt does indeed influence taste of the food as well as water intake. The used dosages in husse dry food are safe and far below the salt levels which could interfere with optimal health.

To choose an appropriate diet to eliminate kidney stones, first thing to do is to analyze the crystals in the urine to know the type of kidney stone: each type of urinary stone needs a specific treatment: In case of struviet stones, acidifiers need to be supplemented to the diet to acidify the urine. Other stones need on the contrary less acid urine. In the case of oxalate stones, a diet low in oxalates is indicated. In the case of urate stones, allopurinol is given as medication to avoid the formation of urates. Conclusion: each type of stone needs a specific treatment. Most often, special diets are required. Husse cat food have an acidity appropriate to prevent the formation of struviet stones (most common urinary stones in cat). For the treatment of stones however, specific veterinary prescription diets are needed.

7. What product would you advise for a dog that suffers from hepatic problems?

Concerning diets for liver disease, there are no Husse products which are really suited for real liver disease. For these patients, special prescription veterinary diets are indicated. For moderate hepatic failure, you could eventually advocate the superpremium products as they have the highest vitamin contents and the highest digestibility: the main aim of diets for hepatic disease is giving liver protecting vitamins (fi choline) and very easy digestible food. Veterinary check and advice is mandatory!

8. What is fiber and how much fiber should dry food contain?

Fiber reduces digestibility of the nutrients. Therefore, high fiber levels are not wanted in dog food for working dogs or competition dogs. Fiber reduces the energy density of the food. For active dogs, a high energy content and high digestibility of the food is required. This means that dietary fiber needs to be limited. The analysis of fiber is very complex as "fiber" is a group of very different analytical substances: lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, pectins, gums. With the classic analysis following the weende procedue (proximate analysis), only a part of the food fiber is analysed as "crude fiber". Although it is "the crude fiber" content that needs to be mentioned on the packaging, researchers don't use this analysis a lot as it underestimates the total dietary fiber content. Expressed as crude fiber, it is indeed a good idea to limit the crude fiber to 3%. As researchers don't use this crude fiber as parameter since it only partially measures the dietary fiber, you will not find recent scientific sources on that: nowadays, scientists prefer to define the fiber requirements expressed as total dietary fiber, insoluble fiber and soluble fiber. Please notice also that fiber also has beneficial effects and that a minimum of fiber is needed for optimal intestinal health and faeces consistency. The ratio soluble/unsoluble fiber is very important. Beet fiber has an optimal ratio soluble fiber/unsoluble fiber and therefore is a good fiber source in dogs.

9. Does dry food products contain starch?

10. What is the way to hydrolize chicken protein in Husse Petfood? What is the length of hydrolized chains of protein?

Hydrolysation of proteins is obtained by adding a kind of enzymes that break down the proteins: these are called proteinases or proteases. For this reaction, temperature and pH of the mixture must be optimal, this is why special reaction tanks are used for this process. Proteases, also known as proteinases or proteolytic enzymes, are a large group of enzymes. Proteases belong to the class of enzymes known as hydrolases, which catalyse the reaction of hydrolysis of various bonds with the participation of a water molecule. Proteases are involved in digesting long protein chains into short fragments, splitting the peptide bonds that link amino acid residues. Some of them can detach the terminal amino acids from the protein chain (exopeptidases, such as aminopeptidases, carboxypeptidase A); the others attack internal peptide bonds of a protein (endopeptidases, such as trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin, papain, elastase). Proteases are divided into four major groups according to the character of their catalytic active site and conditions of action: serine proteinases, cysteine (thiol) proteinases, aspartic proteinases, and metalloproteinases. Attachment of a protease to a certain group depends on the structure of catalytic site and the amino acid (as one of the constituents) essential for its activity.

11. Why corn gluten used in our exclusive light dry food for cats. Is it useful somehow? Or it is used just as filling?

Corn gluten is more and more used in cat food because it has some important advantages: this ingredient is low in fat which makes it suitable for a light formula. Corn gluten is also one of the protein sources with the lowest mineral contents (low magnesium level): so also in diets for urinary health, corn gluten is often used to obtain low magnesium and phosphorus levels. The advantages of corn gluten are its high digestibility (similar to chicken meal) and its high biological value. Corn gluten is a high quality vegetable protein which is also very palatable for cats. It is also a quite expensive ingredient and should not be considered as a “filler”.

12. Is it true that beet pulp is an ingredient that is not good for cats? It is written like this by many "experts" on the internet.

Beet pulp is a very good fiber source for dogs and cats. In scientific literature, it has been described as the best fiber source for dogs and cats as it has an optimal ratio between soluble and insoluble fibers. Beet pulp improves gut digestion, improves the condition of the gut villi and optimizes stool consistency. It also has a prebiotic activity (increase of beneficial gut bacteria) and regulates food transit. The articles on internet may have been written by people without academic information who confused some data written about beet pulp in horse feed. In fact, in horses, very high levels of beet pulp could be dangerous in some specific cases. The levels in cats (1.5%-3.5%) are much lower and completely harmless.